Video content has become an integral part of our daily lives, with billions of hours of videos being watched every day across various platforms. However, did you know that video content can also be a powerful tool for boosting your business’s conversion rates? In this blog, we shall discuss 5 brilliant ways to use video content to increase your conversion rates and grow your business.
Since the early days of cinema, video formats have been a gripping way of telling stories to audiences. Today, YouTube is the most visited website in the world after Google, achieving 2.6 billion users worldwide as of 2022.
Yet some people fail to consider that videos can be used for much more than entertainment. For CMOs and marketing managers, utilizing video content in their marketing strategy can provide numerous benefits. Videos have the ability to grab viewers’ attention and engage them in a way that other forms of content may not. They can effectively convey brand messaging, showcase products or services, and build brand awareness.
Video content can also increase website traffic, improve search engine rankings, and ultimately lead to higher conversion rates. By incorporating video into their marketing strategy, CMOs and marketing managers can stay ahead of the competition and meet the evolving demands of their audience.
In fact, businesses and institutions are increasingly embracing video content as a tool for education or marketing.
This trend is partly thanks to the global pandemic, which made e-commerce, distance learning, and work from home more commonplace. Nevertheless, the fundamental benefits of using video remain unchanged; videos connect people with audiences, hold their attention, and inspire them to return.
The businesses of today must either embrace video or lose out to their more tech-savvy competitors.
In this article, we’ll explain the basics of using digital video content in e-commerce, along with several real-life use cases and tips for the process.
Why use video content?
In short, videos are a great way to communicate with your audience.
Unlike written content, which your visitors might ignore, videos can play as soon as a web page loads. So, if you can make the first few seconds enticing enough, that viewer might stick around to see what your video is all about, and possibly even make a purchase decision based on it.
From here, you may use video content for a wide range of purposes. It will help explain your products or be used for ancillary tasks such as employee onboarding or customer service. It’s why everyone is using it, from retailers to digital signature companies.
No matter how you choose to utilize video content, the key takeaway is that viewers will watch it if it captures their interest. Video content can be used for a variety of purposes, such as product explanations, employee onboarding, and customer service, and its popularity spans across various industries, from retailers to digital signature companies. Therefore, the key to success with video content is to make it engaging and compelling enough to hold viewers’ attention.
5 ways video content can boost conversion rates
How exactly can videos boost customer conversion rates? Where and when should they be used – and how? Here are some common examples used by leading e-commerce websites.
Digital ads
In the context of the customer lifecycle journey, all of your customers will start out unaware of your company. Through marketing efforts such as advertising, some of those strangers will become website visitors. Hopefully, they will then be converted into paying customers.
For this process to work as intended, you need an adequate supply of new customers. And for that, you need effective marketing. A traditional approach might have been to employ a mass leaflet or email campaign. These days, however, most companies are focusing on video content.
Why? Because video content is versatile. You can use it everywhere, from social media adverts to influencer marketing, or even integrated into an email campaign.
If you are successful in creating captivating video ads, you’ll see an uptick in site visitors as well as a boost to your overall customer conversion rates.
Your landing page
The landing page is the first place that visitors are taken to when they click on your website. Most e-commerce sites will include a form here. The visitor may be required to enter their details for future B2C communication such as promotional deals.
At this point, the website visitor becomes a qualified lead; somebody that you expect will be converted into a paying customer in the future. The more qualified leads you have, the higher your e-commerce site’s conversion rates will be. So how can you increase the number of qualified leads?
One solution may be to include a video on your landing page, much like Fortnum & Mason has done for its Christmas giveaway campaign.
Your video could also be a short introduction to your company: who you are, what you sell, and what materials you will send them if they sign up. By nailing your landing page strategy, you’ll see conversion KPIs increase down the line.
Product pages
Videos also work particularly well on individual product pages.
Think back to the last time you were shopping on Amazon. If you bought a product, its page would have most likely included a slideshow of images, as well as a short video. That video may have been the reason why you bought the product!
Why? Well, videos excel at communicating complex topics within a short timeframe. Rather than subjecting your customers to read a wall of text on your product, videos explain it quickly. You can focus on the main selling points of your product and mitigate concerns they have around potential pain points.
Time is of the essence in e-commerce. If you aren’t communicating your product’s value quickly enough, then your customers will lose interest and click away. From your perspective, that’s a lead you have failed to convert. First impressions clearly matter; it’s why tools like the Salesforce proposal generator are so widely used by professionals.
Explainer videos
Running an e-commerce website is about so much more than landing pages and product pages.
You must create a well-rounded experience where customers can access the information they need quickly and easily. That means including Q&A pages, customer service portals, and features such as delivery tracking or post-purchase onboarding.
With that in mind, videos may be integrated as an effective tool of communication. Videos are also a fantastic solution because they reduce the time spent searching for this information, meaning your customers won’t end up frustrated by the experience.
Recorded webinars & workshops
E-commerce companies are among the most ambitious in the world. After all, their success has come through their readiness to embrace and adapt to technological change.
Consequently, we are seeing online stores branch out beyond retailing. For instance, companies will often try to establish themselves as “experts” in a product niche. This improves their brand image and generates incoming web traffic.
Online webinars are a popular choice as they are relatively easy to set up. Once it has concluded, you can reproduce the recorded video into extra content for sharing. As a result, this can improve customer trust, increase your customer retention rate and boost overall sales.
In addition to the benefits of recorded webinars and workshops, CMOs and marketing managers should also consider the potential for live video content. Live videos, such as product launches, Q&A sessions, and behind-the-scenes footage, can create a sense of urgency and excitement that recorded content may not.
They also allow for real-time engagement and interaction with viewers, which can further build brand trust and loyalty. With the rise of social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook, live video has become more accessible and easier to produce than ever before. Incorporating live video into your marketing strategy can add a unique and dynamic element to your content and help your brand stand out in a crowded digital landscape.
Tips for creating quality video content that delivers
Every video needs a hook
As with text or audio content, the first few seconds of your video content are the most crucial.
Those seconds are your primary chance to capture the viewer’s attention. If you don’t give them a reason to keep watching, then they will simply click away. This is called viewer retention, and it’s an important concept to consider when making videos.
Videos with good retention will always have a “hook” at the start. Essentially, a hook is a mini-answer to the title or question of the video. After a few seconds, the viewer should have a broad idea of what the video is about and what they can expect from watching it.
Once you achieve high video retention, it’s proof that your customers are engaging with your content because they find your videos useful!
Don’t neglect the thumbnail
In some situations, having a video play as soon as the page loads would not be suitable. A good example is product pages where the customer may want to see the price first without distraction.
In these cases, you should create a thumbnail for your paused video content. A thumbnail is an image that, when clicked, will play the video. The best thumbnails will have high click-through rates (CTR), meaning many people are pressing play on them.
To achieve a high CTR, your thumbnails must be relevant, providing some context as to what the video is about. Beyond that, you should show a human face (preferably smiling!) to connect with viewers and build credibility.
Assure the viewer
A customer’s trust must be earned before they spend their money.
Within the first few seconds of your video, you should quickly assure the viewer of your expertise in the subject matter. So, if a person is speaking, show their name and experience. Similarly, if you’re showing a product, include testimonials from happy customers.
Use personalized content
To offer some final food for thought, you may want to consider incorporating bespoke video content into your B2C strategy.
This is normally done by e-commerce platforms that deal with comparatively higher-paying clients. For example, a company might send a personalized video in an email sent to a high-value customer lead. Addressing them directly like this proves that you really do care about them!
You would also expect to see personalized content in B2B communications. For example, you could include a concise video introduction in the commercial template you send to business partners.
Utilize video content in your content strategy
Video content is a versatile tool for online stores to boost their customer conversion rates. Videos help us communicate effectively, which makes for a great customer experience. It goes without saying that happy customers are more likely to spend money, repurchase in the future, and recommend your platform to friends and family.
Video content strategies can be as basic or complex as you like. You may only use them on product pages, or opt for a site-wide video content strategy. Regardless of the approach, be sure your videos are engaging, genuine and informative.